Nancy Terrell, Waikiki Beach, Hononlulu, HIMember Since October 2007Artist Statement I am a conceptual artist – I paint what I feel, what my interest is at the moment. I have studied art for 50 years and am now, finally, coming into a freedom of style. I live an unusual lifestyle living on a classic trawler in Hawaii. Because of this I have the opportunity of continual movement and exposure to nature, even when at our dock. Water people are different from land people – the sea is freedom to us – we revel in the wind, the surf and the vastness of open water. When we feel the pull of dock lines it is the same as feeling the pull/push of the wind and the sea. It only becons us to untie and to sail into the open wonder of water, sky and wind.

I feel that my art is the same way. I start with something small – a design, an object, a feeling put into line and shape – and then I build. One line leads to another – that shape leads to one that is similar, or much different. It is the freedom of hand and the movement that is geared to that freedom. One concept/idea is recorded on paper, which leads to another and yet another.

I do this on a scratch pad that I continually carry with me. Often, if I make a line that I do not particularly like, I turn it into a positive thus making another shape out of the negative; therefore, a negative with a positive becomes a positive philosophically speaking – and I am a philosopher at heart - every form I make has a statement. – a symbol, as it were, behind it. This is especially true in my Doodles.

Symbols mean something to me, if not to the viewer. The greatest compliment I ever received was when I created a totally complex stencil just filled with spiritual symbols. I posted it. Some months later a guy wrote back with how meaningful this was to him as he understood what I was saying. That meant more to me than if he had paid me $10,000.

Money is not my object in art or in life, oddly enough neither is artistic understanding. I love the act of creating. I love it when someone contacts me and says "Miss Nancy, I have a five year old granddaughter who loves flowers, birds, and the color lavender, please create a picture for her room." This is heaven to me - creating and the freedom to create. This is what being a Visual Artist is all about – freedom and enjoyment.

Conservative visual artists start with what they are going to paint in front of them – a portrait, a landscape, etc. so that the whole is there before they start. Conceptual artists start with just that – a concept – and then build as in a sandcastle when at the beach. After half a century in creating design, I am elated at the new opportunities before me. Computers have opened an entirely new way for self expression. Combined with the scanner and a good photo program, I feel that creativity is now at my feet. Bring it on !!!!!!!